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The admission was seen as damaging to the successful channel. Its parent company BSkyB is 39% owned by Murdoch's News Corp.

It has been mired in a phone hacking scandal at its British newspaper arm.

As a result, BSkyB is being investigated as to whether its owners and directors are fit to own a broadcast licence.

"Ofcom is investigating the fairness and privacy issues raised by Sky News' statement that it had accessed without prior authorisation private email accounts during the course of its news investigations," a spokesman said.